“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation had been laid on rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed—it was utterly destroyed!” —Matthew 7:24–27
Jesus begs the question of us all: Upon what foundation are we building our houses (lives)? The foundation determines the ability of our structures to withstand the elements. No one is immune to the cold, hard winds of life. Because we live in a fallen world, and we wrestle daily with Satan, sin, and self, trials and heartaches blowhard on us all. A sudden death, the loss of income, a wayward child, a chronic illness, a love-less marriage; you name it, these beat against our houses like no small hurricane. The hope which is built on Christ will stand even when the storms fiercely blow. His comfort will never fail; His faithfulness is great and new every morning. When the Lord is our portion and sufficiency, we will always be satisfied:
“The LORD’s loyal kindness never ceases; his compassions never end. They are fresh every morning; your faithfulness is abundant! ‘My portion is the LORD,’ I have said to myself so I will put my hope in him.” —Lamentations 3:22–24
Jesus teaches us that we can either choose to be sensible and wise in our choice of foundations or we can choose to be silly and foolish. Sounds like an easy choice to me! Paul gives us a fair warning as well:
“Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness.’ And again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’” —1 Corinthians 3:18–20
Jesus classifies the builders into two categories: those who hear His Words and act and those who hear His Words and do nothing. Those who hear and are obedient to God’s Word receive freely flowing grace giving way to grace. Conversely, those who are disobedient to what they hear turn their backs on the grace held out for them. Sadly, they bring ruin upon themselves. God’s Word is meant to benefit us by changing our lives as we obey. God clearly tells us:
“They come to you in crowds, and they sit in front of you as my people. They hear your words, but do not obey them. For they talk lustfully, and their heart is set on their own advantage. Realize that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. They hear your words, but they do not obey them.” —Ezekiel 33:31–32
Delayed obedience is disobedience causing us harm as well. Postponed obedience can never bring the full blessing God intended for us and others. We are to dare to trust Him as well as dare to follow Him. He will never disappoint us! We will always be enabled to stand firm in the storm.
James tells us we are not to merely listen to God’s Word but do what it says in order to not deceive ourselves and to be blessed in all that we undertake. Why would we want to waste our lives and efforts by doing any differently?
Become More
“It is not enough to hear Christ’s words, and understand them, hear them, and remember them, hear them, and talk of them, repeat them, dispute for them; but we must hear and practice them. This do, and you shall live. Those only who hear, and obey, are blessed.” —Matthew Henry
“Love for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that either one of them implies the other too.” —F. F. Bruce
Further Reflections
“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.” —A.W. Tozer
“But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out—he will be blessed in what he does.” —James 1:22–25